Butterfly Wonderland is about more than butterflies! We love educating people young and old on the benefits of all sorts of insects and other animals that we have here – such as bees! Our bees, which have recently been relocated to the south part of our Rainforest Conservatory, are a very important part of the environment. After all, in addition to helping other plants grow thanks to their amazing pollinating powers, they bring the honey to the world. (And who doesn’t love honey?) These little guys are hard-workers – they fly approximately 55,000 miles just to product ONE pound of honey. Bees are super efficient, too. They produce up to three times the amount of honey they need to store for winter, and we get to benefit from that yummy excess! Worker bees live for only five to six weeks. During this time they will work to produce 1/12 of a teaspoon on honey, which seems like a lot of work for one little buzzer! Amazingly, the queen bee can live up to five years, and she has quite the task of her own. In an average life span, the queen lays up to 2,500 eggs! While many people may fear bees because of their stinger, we should all love them for the positive impact they have on the planet!
